June Teen Club was the most exciting of all teen club activities that was held by our coordinator Kendall. It is pitiful that our coordinator is leaving Botswana to continue her studies. Last Teen Club was well arranged and it was fun.

We had TNT dancers for entertainment and unfortunately the SKY dancers did not come for entertainment due to certain problems. Afterwards we had members from Barclays bank educating us in ways in which we can save. Then we had to move around to find where we can stay for entertainment. We had the dancing activity, basketball activity and the football activity. My favourite part was the basketball activity. Techniques in basketball activity can help me in the future. If one was not interested in taking part in the above activities, they had to write and colour about their rights and decorate it after colouring since it was the month of the AFRICAN CHILD.

In cooperation with the BARCLAYS BANK we thank them for the lovely snacks they gave to us and wish the best for them in archiving their goals. With hope the new coordinator will continue where Kendall left.

In the last teen club we learned about maths and science. We learned how to calculate at the maths games station and we did many activities like making slime and others.

In the last teen club my favorite part was doing maths because it helps me to solve and calculate problems which will assist me in my studies at school

One thing that I have learned is that calculations can be very simple. To come up with possible solutions you just use your brain and challenge yourself.

I think that the last teen club will help me to do better in my studies. I also learned to ask for assistance when I don’t understand which will help me in the future!

Blog Post #2

At the February Teen Club we did things from different subjects such as Maths and Science. In science we were taught how to make slime. In maths we played maths games. We were taught about the eye and touch at the Human Biology station.

My favourite part was at the egg drop because we were taught how to take care of certain things that can break easily. For example if you don’t take care of your life it will break and you will not have any future.

Many people used sponges and other padding to protect the egg from breaking. I feel like the padding in my life is my education, support systems, and self-esteem. At this station I learned how to take care of things that can break easily. I know I have the ability to take care of my life so that I can have a better future.

This Teen Club helped me appreciate our education because education is the key to success and if you are not educated we may not live a good life because we may not know how to read and write. I also learned that science can be fun, like when we made slime!

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>botswanateenclubTeen Leader Blog Project: Career Dayhttps://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/teen-leader-blog-project-career-day/
https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/teen-leader-blog-project-career-day/#commentsTue, 10 Nov 2015 09:56:51 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1308]]>The Teen Leaders have launched a new initiative to keep people more informed about recent Teen Club activities. Each month two Teen Leaders will write blog entries detailing their experience at the previous Teen Club. Below are the installments on this project from two of our incredible Teen Leaders:

ENTRY #1:

The last teen club was all about Career Day. It was basically talking about different careers and qualifications one needs to achieve those careers. We had people from different careers including an actress from Mareledi , the Human Resource Manager from KFC, a soldier of Botswana Defense Force, etc.

My favorite part was when we met the actress from our local drama MARELEDI because she was educating us and told us there is no qualification you need to be an actress, which was interesting to learn. It is also interesting that she gets to play a different character in different places.

At another station there were bankers from Standard Chartered and they taught me how to save money for the future. I thank the Standard Chartered Bank for the delicious food they gave to us.

I think it is important to have Career Day because people can take the ideas that they learned during the day and help them pick which career to choose from and what steps to take for one to achieve that career!!

ENTRY #2:

The day was awesome and interesting because we got to meet people from different places like Mokolodi game reserve, KFC, Makgabaneng and others who we have never met before. The day was very enjoyable and the teens had fun.

We started by playing different games. Then we divided the teens into groups by age. Each group started at a different stations where they were taught about different careers and how to achieve theme. Each station was given few minutes , so that the presenters could share what they had prepared for Teen Club: information about their daily jobs and career paths. Then we shifted to the next station to learn about a different career and how they managed to get to where they are. We were also given time to say out our views and ask questions. In total, we visited thirteen different stations.

My favourite part was banking. I really enjoyed this station because I study accounting at school as my practical subject and it meant a lot to me since I want to be an accountant when I grow up and assist people at banks.

At this station, I learned a lot about banking like how to save, budget and also how to deal with money’s worth. I also learnt that there are different careers in banking that perform different tasks and what I should focus on in order to achieve them.

I hope this bog post will give information to anyone who wants to learn more about teen club!

We have Career Day to help all the teens get information, so that it will be easier for us when we are choosing our careers.

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/teen-leader-blog-project-career-day/feed/3teen club logobotswanateenclubUntitledBotswana – a poemhttps://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/botswana-a-poem/
Tue, 16 Jun 2015 13:03:22 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1302]]>BW by participants of the Out of School Youth Programme

Botswana, a land of peace, harmony and prosperity warm hospitality,

A sense of belonging is how one would feel if they were visiting Botswana.

A country of wildlife and tourism and the beautiful different tribes,

Different cultures is a sight not to be missed.

Blessed with the Kalahari Desert that beautifies in place

With wild trees that bear wild fruits.

Moving swiftly to the Chobe area, a place that attracts tourists from all over the world,

who are normally here for the wildlife and exquisite Setswana cuisine.

A land of good food, exquisite taste of different dishes.

Delele grown in a field, slimy yet sweet.

Phane from a tree, a worm–tastes good, dried or fresh

With a side dish of pap or sorghum.

Fish, caught in the Chobe river, top of Botswana next to Maun–a place of tourism.

Dinawa, a great feeling of great beans popping in your mouth to produce the seetest tase of good plant foods.

Botswana.

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>botswanateenclubNOTE: THIS PHOTO HAS HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED TO ENSURE FULL RELEASE OF CAMPER -- Camp Hope Botswana at Marapula school in Gaborone, Botswana for HIV infected children who are clients of the Baylor-Botswana Children's Center of Excellence. Photographed in April 2006.Two Anecdotes of HIV Infection (beyond their control)https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/two-anecdotes-of-hiv-infection-beyond-their-control/
https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/two-anecdotes-of-hiv-infection-beyond-their-control/#commentsMon, 07 May 2012 14:01:19 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1254]]>Written by Amanda Hu (www.amandainbotswana.wordpress.com)

When I was given a tour of the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence, I learned that most of the HIV-positive youth in the country acquired HIV through mother-to-child transmission, and a smaller percentage through rape; it was a very small minority of children who contracted HIV through their own chosen behaviors. Yet despite the fact that they had no choice in the matter, they must deal with the consequences. I wanted to share two people’s stories about acquiring their HIV-positive status, the first through mother-to-child transmission and the second through an incident of rape.

I talked to a young man from Mochudi, 17 years old, who told me the following when I asked him about some of the challenges he’d experienced in his life: “When my mother gave birth to me she passed away while I was still young and I don’t even know her face, or my father’s. In 2006 I got a disease and while I tested at the hospital they told me that I was positive for HIV, but because I was still young I didn’t know anything. While I was growing, I realized how I could maintain my health despite the fact that I had HIV, but the thing is I have to take the treatment everyday as the doctor recommended… Now, I am doing so. It took me time, but I have accepted the situation.” He believes he became HIV positive from his mother and also indirectly from his grandmother, who were both HIV positive. When he found out about his positive status he said, “I was ashamed,” but “because there are teen clubs I became involved and it helped me to be open to myself and know that it is not me alone who is suffering from HIV and it is not my fault. Nowadays I am also confident because of Stepping Stones.” Teen club is a support group run by Baylor specifically for HIV-positive youth in Botswana, and Stepping Stones International is an after-school program for OVCs in Mochudi.

Another person from Mochudi, an 18-year-old female, informed me that she was HIV positive as the result of a rape. Expanding upon the story, she told me the following: “I remember clearly that it was around examination time, and on one Sunday I went out with my friends to a liquor bar. At around midnight I sneaked out of the bar with the intention of dodging my friends so that I could go back home because I was supposed to go to school on Monday. I went through a passage and I saw a person following and calling me by my name. I hurried through the passage but he suddenly grabbed me and took a knife out of his pocket. He dragged me and pressed me against a nearby rock and commanded me not to make any noise or else he would kill me. He ripped off my clothes and raped me. I was bleeding all over the body. As if that was not enough, he dragged me and laid me beside the tarred road and left me lying there unconscious… only to find myself in the hospital after regaining consciousness. I was told that I was found by the police on patrol and they brought me to the hospital.” The man was arrested.

This is her description of the aftermath: “[Now] I feel that everything is okay, especially that my mother is treating me well; from the time I was admitted to the hospital my family gave me a lot of support throughout the whole process.

Immediately after the HIV diagnosis I underwent extensive psychosocial counseling at an organization called ‘Bakgatla bolokang matshelo.’ I was told to accept my status and I eventually joined teen club… As a member of teen club, I began to accept my HIV status because I realized that I was not alone and there are other young people my age who have the same problem as mine. My family accepted me and gave me some love.”

These testimonies certainly also speak to the value of support programs for vulnerable youth – despite their very trying circumstances, such programs can make a tremendous difference.

Where are these people now? The first person mentioned above wants to be a policeman “to help society to control crime and also advise my age mates.” He “takes other kids for counseling, and advises them to take the treatment and protect themselves and not mix treatment with alcohol,” and says he doesn’t want his peers or his future children “to suffer like I did.” As for the second, she enthusiastically intends to be a doctor (a general practitioner) working in Botswana and also says, “I personally think I can help change the mindset of young people towards HIV/AIDS through sharing my story and experience. I will also teach them about HIV prevention measures and not forgetting to encourage them to never give up too easily in life no matter the circumstances.” By channeling their hardship in a way that allows them to ameliorate the lives of others as well as provide experience for a more successful future, these young people are extraordinary examples for other youth who are also undergoing substantial adversity.

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/two-anecdotes-of-hiv-infection-beyond-their-control/feed/1botswanateenclubShow me the money! Barclays Bank of Botswana’s Financial Literacy Teen Club 2012https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/show-me-the-money-barclays-bank-of-botswanas-financial-literacy-teen-club-2012/
Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:52:10 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1248]]>In March, the Gaborone Teen Club learned all about money: budgeting, saving, spending, bartering…you name it, they tried it. All of this knowledge was brought to our teens by the generosity of volunteers from Barclays Bank who dedicated their Saturday to teaching us about financial literacy. A new group at Botswana-Baylor, the Young Adults Support Group, particularly benefited from this lesson, as many of them will soon enter the job market and need to learn how to properly manage their money.

After fun and energetic warm ups, the teens were split into three groups: younger (13-16 years old), older (17-19 years old), and young adults (19+). All groups began the day listening to presentations by the Barclays Bank volunteers. The representatives talked about different ways of keeping track of one’s expenses, saving money and spending it wisely. The talks were engaging and informative and laid the groundwork for the day’s activities. At the conclusion of the presentations and question-and-answer time, the teens were further subdivided in their groups to begin the day’s activities!

The younger teens had the task of planning a major event on a budget. They were split into six groups, half planning a school award giving ceremony and half planning a talent show. Each group was given a budget and presented with options for various elements of each event (ex. venues, food, entertainment etc…). Their job was to work together as a team to come up with a fun event that was within their budget. The teens did a wonderful job working together and communicating with each other about how to stay within their financial constraints. At the end of the exercise, each group presented their plan for the event, enabling the teens to practice both their public speaking and their financial literacy skills!

The older teens and the young adults were split into groups of six to play the board game South African Monopoly. Shouts and laughter filled Baylor’s lobby as the older teens paid and gained money, bought and sold properties, went bankrupt, built hotels and hit the jackpot! As Monopoly emphasizes buying and maintaining property, a very important part of one’s adult life, the older teens were learning to implement the budgeting techniques that the Barclay’s representatives had discussed all the while. Once the games started, passersby could only see were the backs of the teens’ heads as everyone huddled over the game boards, completely engrossed.

The day’s events turned out to be a wonderful success! Teens were able to apply what they had learned from the Barclay’s representatives with the activities and games that followed. All activities were enjoyed by younger and older teens alike, and everyone—even the Teen Club staff—came away from the day a little bit wiser!

A huge thanks to Barclays Bank of Botswana for making this Financial Literacy Teen Club possible not only in Gaborone, but at all of our satellite Teen Clubs around Botswana, too!!

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>botswanateenclubIMG_1728The Art of Giving Back: Community-Service in Gaborone’s Teen Clubhttps://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/the-art-of-giving-back-community-service-in-gaborones-teen-club/
Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:28:00 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1241]]>To give or to receive: that was the question answered at Gaborone Teen Club’s February event. Teens spent the morning discussing the meaning of “community service” and its role in their lives. Writing lists of everything they give and receive on a daily basis created a renewed awareness and appreciation among the teens of just how much they get from others every day. Countless studies have shown that giving actually makes us feel better, happier and more satisfied than receiving. With this in mind, teens spent the Teen Club day creating things to give to others!

The main activity of the day was making spacers for inhalers. Inhalers are devices used by people with asthma to direct medication into their lungs that helps them to breathe. Spacers are cylindrical devices that create a tunnel of space between someone’s inhaler and mouth; this makes it much easier to correctly inhale the medicine into the lungs, rather than swallowing it into their stomachs where it will not help. As helpful as spacers are, they are also quite expensive. Luckily, doctors at the Botswana-Baylor Clinic knew that you can make them easily, effectively and inexpensively out of small plastic water bottles!

Thanks to the generous donations of empty used water bottles from hotels and schools around Gaborone, we were able to collect 373 bottles to turn into spacers. Teen Club staff cut holes in the bottom of the bottles (where the mouth of the inhaler will be inserted) before Teen Club. Teens started by removing the labels from the bottles, then they washed and rinsed every bottle and laid them out to dry in the sun. While the bottles dried, teens decorated new labels for the spacers, drawing colorful pictures and writing encouraging messages to the spacers’ future recipients such as “feel better soon” and “you are great.” Finally, teens glued the new labels onto the spacers and taped over the hole cut in the bottom to make smooth edges and a snug fit for the mouth of the inhalers.

In the morning, the younger teens (13-15 years old) made birthday and holiday cards for doctors at the neighboring public hospital to give to young patients staying in the hospital over holidays or their birthdays. While this was happening, older teens started making inhaler spacers out of recycled water bottles. Making the spacers was more time consuming than expected, so in the second half of the morning, the younger teens joined the effort! In the end, the teens were able to complete the production and decoration of all 373 spacers!

Teens reported feeling very happy about the day. One stated, “I feel so good about giving back to my community that I wrote my name on the water bottle. I want the person to know that it is from me to them!”

All in all, community service Teen Club was a big hit. We cannot wait to begin giving out the spacers and holiday and birthday cards to children! Thank you to all of the organizations who donated water bottles, to the doctors whose idea sparked this project, and to the teens for making it possible!

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>botswanateenclubIMG_1656January Teen Club: Identifying Positives and Negatives in Relationshipshttps://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/january-teen-club-identifying-positives-and-negatives-in-relationships/
https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/january-teen-club-identifying-positives-and-negatives-in-relationships/#commentsWed, 29 Feb 2012 12:37:02 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1236]]>January’s Teen Club had the teens learning about and discussing various relationships in their lives. The day started off with a talk from Dr. Refilwe, a medical officer at the Baylor Clinic. She discussed the importance of healthy transition into adulthood and from Baylor to a local clinic. She facilitated the first meeting of the young adults support group. The around 16 member who are part of the group talk about a suitable name for the group, outlined the objectives and aims and spoke about their dreams and expectations. From now on, the young adults support group will take place once a month at the same time as the Gaborone Teen Club.

Following the presentation, the teens were broken into two groups (younger and older teens) for the rest of the day’s activities. The first activity of the day involved the teens discussing their opinions on roles within relationships. Volunteers read out statements (ex. “Because your boyfriend wants to have sex with you, you know that he really loves you.”) and the teens were asked to stand next to signs saying Yes, No or Maybe, depending on how they felt about each statement. After the teens had made their decisions, the volunteers asked and encouraged them, to discuss why they were standing where they were. All of the teens (both the younger and older groups) participated very enthusiastically in the discussions following each statement. The activity proved to be an effective and fun way to engage teens in a healthy discussion about stereotypes that exist within various relationships and why those stereotypes may or may not be true. The teens enjoyed this activity so much that we ran over time!

The next activity involved role playing. The younger and older teens were given different scenarios/situations that may be typical within predominant relationships in their lives. They broke up into smaller groups and the volunteers asked the teens to role play both the scenario as well as what the teens thought would be the most appropriate solution to the problem. The situations involved not only romantic relationships, but also familial relationships as well as relationships with friends and peers. The skits that the teens came up with were very creative and showed excellent problem solving skills. Many of the teens reported how much they enjoyed role-playing.

Overall, the day was a resounding success. The teens were able to approach the, sometimes difficult, topic of relationships in creative ways. The various activities generated a great deal of discussion among the teens and both the younger and older teens reported enjoying the day’s activities!

Filed under: Uncategorized]]>https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/january-teen-club-identifying-positives-and-negatives-in-relationships/feed/1botswanateenclubIMGP0369A Visit from Ambassador Gavin!https://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/a-visit-from-ambassador-gavin/
Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:17:07 +0000http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/?p=1175]]>This December, several of our Teen Club Teen Leaders were lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down and chat with the United States Ambassador to Botswana. Ambassador Gavin told the Teen Leaders about her childhood, adolescence and the path she took to arrive at the position she fills today. The Teen Leaders then asked her questions about her job, her passions, her life, and asked for her advice on issues in their own lives. Ambassador Gavin was honest, frank and she made the teens laugh throughout the meeting! Her dedication to Botswana’s youth shined through, and all of the Teen Leaders present at the meeting left feeling inspired by her words. The Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence would like to extend its most heartfelt THANK YOU to the U.S. Embassy and, especially, to Ambassador Gavin, whose presence and message will send our teens happily and safely into the new year.